Neil R.

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My ratings are based mostly on overall quality with some consideration of price to performance ratio. I don't care too much about service and decor, but very fresh ingredients are important, as is the wine list. A bagel place needs to grow their own wheat, and thresh it and cook it the same day that I eat the bagel, to get 5 stars from me.

Excellent old-fashioned restaurant on the outskirts of Frederick.
The cuisine is what you would get at good restaurants in the 1960s, so
it's not necessarily low-fat. Uniformly good, including the
salads and soups which are quite interesting, but ...
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Excellent old-fashioned restaurant on the outskirts of Frederick.
The cuisine is what you would get at good restaurants in the 1960s, so
it's not necessarily low-fat. Uniformly good, including the
salads and soups which are quite interesting, but especially the breads
and desserts baked on-premises.
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Mediocre Mexican food without much flavor; obviously much of it was
cooked long beforehand and reheated. Ingredients did not seem to be
especially good quality either. There is one exception, however:
They feature a tortilla-making machine in the ent ...
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Mediocre Mexican food without much flavor; obviously much of it was
cooked long beforehand and reheated. Ingredients did not seem to be
especially good quality either. There is one exception, however:
They feature a tortilla-making machine in the entrance, and the tortillas
are great.
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Pub food, trying to be more upscale. Greens for salad were getting pretty
old, something odd in a high-volume restaurant. Crab cake was big (as
advertised) but didn't have much flavor (must have been frozen),
and I had to specifically ask for a s ...
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Pub food, trying to be more upscale. Greens for salad were getting pretty
old, something odd in a high-volume restaurant. Crab cake was big (as
advertised) but didn't have much flavor (must have been frozen),
and I had to specifically ask for a sauce. Nice cake for dessert at least.
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Adequate country-French restaurant. The usual dishes are offered
with a few small creative touches here and there. Portion size is fine.
Good wine list. I cannot give five stars to a restaurant unless it is
significantly more creative.

Not very successful attempt at a wine bar had both poor food and poor
wine. Salad had far too much blue cheese and nuts and fish was bland.
The seven wines I sampled had little flavor and may have been damaged
in transit or storage. If you're goi ...
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Not very successful attempt at a wine bar had both poor food and poor
wine. Salad had far too much blue cheese and nuts and fish was bland.
The seven wines I sampled had little flavor and may have been damaged
in transit or storage. If you're going to have a special wine offering,
why pick an Italian barbera that has little fruit? The whole point of
barbera is the lush fruit.
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Attempt at an upscale Chinese restaurant falls short. Lots of flashy
details in the dishes, but in the end they're using the same low-quality
ingredients that you see too often in cheap Chinese restaurants. Balance
of flavors also seemed off, sug ...
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Attempt at an upscale Chinese restaurant falls short. Lots of flashy
details in the dishes, but in the end they're using the same low-quality
ingredients that you see too often in cheap Chinese restaurants. Balance
of flavors also seemed off, suggesting a poor executive chef. Chinese
cooking depends considerably on good-quality fresh ingredients
and this overly-large restaurant cannot provide that and serve so
many patrons per day. Portions will also unnecessarily large, also
suggesting poor quality. Wine list was not exciting.
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Wonderful Italian restaurant hidden in an industrial park south of
MD 175. The chefs seem to be talented and have a menu well integrated
with wine. Quality is uniformly high on the food. The nightly prix fixe
dinner is a great way to be introduced to ...
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Wonderful Italian restaurant hidden in an industrial park south of
MD 175. The chefs seem to be talented and have a menu well integrated
with wine. Quality is uniformly high on the food. The nightly prix fixe
dinner is a great way to be introduced to their quality (though be forewarned
it's not a lot of food), and you can get small pours of three wines
to go with it. I can't give it more than four stars though because
it's only aiming at bistro food.
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